Quite a few weeks ago, we were looking around for somewhere to go for a, what people would call a ‘babymoon’. Now most people (in Dubai) would go to somewhere exotic like Thailand, Maldives, maybe Sri Lanka – but I was past my ‘okay-to-fly’ safe date so we opted for somewhere local. A few clicks around booking.com and prices for the places that we wanted to go to are as to be expected – expensive! Then I remembered – I have Sirius points! We’ve been here for a few years now and have accumulated a fair bit, and just enough for Dar Al Masyaf in Madinat Jumeirah 🙂

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Arabian Summer House Deluxe

It is a really romantic resort – especially when night falls and you whizz around in an abra. Dar Al Masyaf are the water villas that you see in the photo above, and they are scattered all over the entire Madinat Jumeirah property. We booked the Arabian Summer House Deluxe (most basic one), and unfortunately did not have the water-facing view but one of the greenery behind – not too bad.

Thoughts on our stay, and how to make the most of it (the liloneoftheashes way) if you were to book a night there :

• Use your Sirius points, or take advantage of all the offers on the Jumeirah website. 
• The stay comes with complimentary use of Wild Wadi Waterpark. I was not exactly ‘physically-suitable’ to be going down the Jumeirah Sceirah (unless I was in a rush to introduce Little S to the world), but I do recommend that you spend a day there if you love your water rides!
• You’re allowed to use all the pools in the Madinat Jumeirah properties – this means not just the big beautiful one that you’ve taken numerous photos of when you’ve dined there – photo below, but also the ones in Jumeirah Beach Hotel (take the buggy there!)

• Each villa comes with a pool that you can use – and whilst we were there, it was always empty – pretty handy if you don’t want to be amongst all the crowds in the main pool. Unfortunately they cover the pool with a safety netting in the evenings so you can’t jump in for a midnight swim with your other half 😉

• There’s an open bar at the villa between 5-7pm (off the top of my head) – which you could have a sneaky drink or two before heading off to dinner.

• The basic packages are room-only and breakfast is unfortunately not included. Here’s a good liloneoftheashes tip – you can use your Entertainer 241 for the breakfast buffets at the following outlets (please reconfirm with the hotel when you book) – and we went for the closest one to our villa – at Arboretum!

                      Arboretum – 150 AED per person (or for two people with 241)

                      Hanaaya – 150 AED per person (or for two people with 241)

They also serve buffet breakfasts at Khaymat Al Bahr (150 pp), and in two locations in Jumeirah Beach Hotel – Beachcombers (170 pp) and Latitude (185pp). I can’t remember if you can use the 241 for Beachcombers and Latitude, let me know if you check with them 🙂

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• For dinner, there’s lots of choices throughout the property. Most of the restaurants in the Madinat Jumeirah are also in the Entertainer – or otherwise take the abra to Souk Madinat Jumeirah for more options 🙂 ( Click here for my many posts on restaurants in the property )
• And of course, the best bit – the beach. Beautiful, pristine, beaches of the Arabian Gulf, overlooking the Burj Al Arab.

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Overall Thoughts

We definitely enjoyed our lil getaway 🙂 If you were to pay full price for it, it is definitely on the pricey side. To compare with resorts of similar standards that we’ve been to for a romantic getaway, I would actually recommend St Regis at the Saadiyat Island (click here for my previous review on it) , or if you don’t mind a bigger drive – to  the Al Yamm Villas or Al Sahel Villas at Sir Bani Yas Island (click here for my reviews on Sir Bani Yas Island). All of them have their unique differences – with Dar Al Masyaf, the plus side is if you’re based in Dubai it’s so close so it’s quick and easy to get to and back for a nice getaway, and there’s a lot more options for food and nightlife, plus access to a waterpark! So it’s up to you really 🙂 Prices drop during the summer seasons so book yourself in for a lil getaway whilst it’s cheap! Maybe it’s time we look around for one that we can take Little S to 😉

Thanks to Jumeirah for the lil touches added – balloons and cakes, for our babymoon 🙂

• Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf
• Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
• For hotel enquiries :
  Tel: +971 4 366 8888
  Toll-free: Click here
  Email: MJinfo@jumeirah.com
• Deal : Use your sirius points, or watch out for summer deals on their website

Disclaimer : We used (nearly all) of my Sirius points for the stay, and paid for the breakfast at Arboretum , as well as dinner at Traitoria Toscana using the Entertainer.